El Paso Water Utilities proposes 11% stormwater rate hike

The El Paso Water Utilities board is mulling over whether to raise your stormwater fee next year. EPWU’s staff is recommending an 11 percent increase.

“We’re increasing the fee because we have a big task ahead of us,” said EPWU Board President John Balliew.

The stormwater budget is meant to address the major flooding El Paso experiences, paying for maintenance and flood control projects.

“We’ve put in a lot of projects to reduce flooding and have done some major improvements on the interstate flooding situation, but the problems are still out there,” Balliew said.

The water utilities has a $650 million master plan, and they say raising the stormwater fee is what it takes to carry that out. New projects they want to tackle include flood control in Central, Northwest and Northeast El Paso, including more open space and park ponds.

So what does 11 percent look like?

For residential customers:
A small home’s rate would go up $1.61 to $1.79 per month, or about $0.18 cents more; a typical home, from $3.21 to $3.56, $0. 35 cents; and for a large home, from $6.42 to $7.13, or $0.71 cents more.

For non-residential customers, per 2,000 sq.ft., the rate increases from $3.21 to $3.63, $0.42 more. Fast food restaurants would see their rate go from $18.19 to $20.19, or up $2, while car dealerships’ rate would jump from $287.87 to $319.56, $31. 69 more.

“I think $0.35 cents a month, which is what the typical customer is paying a month, is a very small amount to pay and its being very well spent,” Balliew said.

Last year the stormwater rate went up 8 percent. The water utilities forecasts it will have to continue raising the rate for the next four years.

The next meeting is next Monday Nov. 16 at 6 p.m. The board will be discussing the proposed budget for water and wastewater. Balliew said he anticipates a raise increase for that as well.

Nothing will be officially adopted until next year.